A note on the Amazon ads: I've chosen to display current events titles in the Amazon box. Unfortunately, Amazon appears to promote a disproportionate number of angry-left books. I have no power over it at this time. Rest assured, I'm still a conservative.

Tuesday, September 02, 2003

"Teeth of the Tiger": Tom Clancy is one of America's best storytellers. The insurance salesman turned author has, over the past two decades, created a world of intrigue where ordinary men do extraordinary things.

Each of Clancy's novels have used the current globalpolitical situation as a backdrop. Through the Cold War, the uncertainty of the fragmentation of the Soviet Union, and now the threat of global terrorism.

In his first novel set in the post-9/11 era, Clancy introduces his next generation of characters. Gone is the Jack Ryan portrayed on the big screen by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and, most recently, Ben Affleck. Instead we have Jack Ryan Jr. and his cousins, the Caruso brothers, Brian and Dominic.

Unlike Clancy's previous novel, "Red Rabbit," "Teeth of the Tiger" grabs you quickly and gives you little time to catch your breath as we learn that the apple didn't fall far from the tree in the form of Jack Jr.

Jack Jr., newly graduated from his father's alma mater, decides to go into the spook business as an analyst -- much like his father. And, not surprisingly, he finds himself sent into the field with little in the way of training or supervision.

Jack's cousins, Brian, a Marine, and Dominic, an FBI agent, find themselves recruited to fight the battle against Islamic terrorists.

Like the ongoing war against terrorism, "Teeth of the Tiger" doesn't really end. There is more to do and more to come.